Thursday, February 24, 2011

As a film buff I look forward to the Academy Awards each year and I’ll definitely be settled in front of my TV for a couple of hours this Sunday. Also, as a book lover I’m always pleased when a good book has made it into film. This year four of the best picture nominees have books as their starting points. They include “True Grit” based on the Charles Portis novel of the same name; “The Social Network” based on The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich; “127 Hours” based on Between a Rock and a Hard Place by rock climber Aron Ralston; and “Winter’s Bone,” based on a novel Daniel Woodrell.

While my best picture favorite, “The King’s Speech,” is not based on a book, it’s screenwriter, David Seidler, has been nominated for best screenplay, a testament to the art of the well-written film.

Good books continue to make good movies. Here’s a few more that will be released or made into movies in 2011:

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

With the Presidents Day holiday fast approaching (called George Washington’s Day in Virginia), history buffs may want to read more about the two Chief Executives born in February – George Washington (Feb. 22, 1732) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12, 1809).

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

It had to happen sooner or later. The New York Times will post its first weekly eBook bestseller list online this Friday and publish it in the print edition on Sunday, according to Library Journal (“New York Times Ready to Release Its First eBook Best Sellers List,” Feb. 7, 2011). No. 1 on the fiction list is Tick Tock by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand tops the nonfiction list.

The Times staff said the lists will be "compiled from weekly data from publishers, chain bookstores, independent booksellers and online retailers, among other sources." They will also use a Web-based software that tracks and aggregates sales data for publishers to validate data, the Library Journal reports.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Those of us who love to read know what a pleasure it is to find a good book and share it with relatives, friends, colleagues and others. I’ve just been browsing book blogs and several social media sites are mentioned frequently as favorite places to discuss reading favorites online. They include:

Shelfari allows you to set up a virtual shelf of your favorite books, share with friends, see what the most popular books are and what are the top books in your favorite genre.

goodreads has such features as most books read this week, popular books published in January 2011, popular lists such as Best Books Ever and even quizzes such as Guess the First Sentence.

BookCrossing is a unique social networking site. In addition to a bookshelf where you can add books in any language, you can create a code and tag a physical book, place it anywhere and follow it as it is “captured” by other BookCrossing members. The San Francisco Chronicle referred to it as “a modern-day message in a bottle.”